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Wombling Merry Christmas - Mike Batt - Len Jenkins
Every Christmas has its novelty single, and following their successful reunion at Glastonbury in 2011, it was lovingly provided by The Wombles with the re- release of their 1974 hit 'Wombling Merry Christmas'. The Wombles are a British novelty pop group, featuring musicians dressed as the characters from children's TV show The Wombles, which in turn was based on the children's book series by Elisabeth Beresford. Songwriter and record producer, Mike Batt, wrote the series' theme tune, and went on to perform and produce a number of successful albums and singles as 'The Wombles'. Enjoy....
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You'd be so nice to come home to - Cole Porter - Len Jenkins
This sideways glance at the Cole Porter masterpiece written for the 1943 film 'Something to shout about', is arranged to feature the flugel and tenor horns, and comprises an up-tempo romp through several variations upon the main theme. Everyone in the Band is kept busy throughout, and a strong rhythmic pulse keeps the music very definitely alive!
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You're My World - Umberto Bindi, Gino Paoli, Carl Sigman - Len Jenkins
"You're My World" is a ballad originally recorded in 1963 as "Il Mio Mondo" ("My World") by Umberto Bindi, who co-wrote the Italian-language version with Gino Paoli. Although the original Italian version was not a hit, even in Italy, the song came to the attention of UK record producer George Martin, who commissioned an English version to be recorded by his protegee Cilla Black. The English lyrics were written by Carl Sigman. Cilla's recording at Abbey Road Studios was made with Johnny Pearson conducting his orchestra and The Breakaways providing background vocals. Her road manager and future husband Bobby Willis also sang on the track. "You're My World" reached No. 1 in Britain on the chart dated 30 May 1964 and remained there for a total of four weeks, one week more than Cilla's preceding single "Anyone Who Had A Heart" (Also available as a Brass arrangement from Wobbleco Music). Although Cilla returned to the UK Top Ten eight times, "You're My World" was her final No. 1 hit. Two quite different arrangements are available; one for Full Brass Band and one for Brass Quintet with optional Glockenspiel. Both attempt to retain the style of the original recording.
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Zat You, Santa Claus - Jack Fox - Len Jenkins
The Christmas song 'Zat You Santa Claus was written by Jack Fox and was first recorded and released by Louis Armstrong and The Commanders in 1953 by Decca Records. The studio orchestra was under the direction of Toots Camarata (who also made the big band arrangement) and Garth Brooks interpreted the song in the feature film "Nenn' mich einfach Nikolaus" (Just call me Nicholas) in 2001. More recently, the song was featured in the film Dr Seuss' "The Grinch" (2018) and sung by Buster Poindexter. This arrangement features the Bass Trombone.